Why do Harley Riders fail to return biker hand acknowledgement?

Any one out there know why HD riders, for the most part fail to signal back after you give them the "hand flash" ( not quite sure what is called). Very few do and after awhile I just said screw you guys. Maybe it is because their heads have been rattled to the point where cognition is gone. Maybe it is all the times I see them ahead and blow by with my scorpion exhausts at full harmony. Well I tried to be nice, but the hell with them.  

i've asked my self the same thing a time or 2. HD are a diffrent breed all togather, not saying all are bad, or *** diffrent. when my friend wrecked his R1 the nurse (a dude) said "if you were on a real bike this would'nt have happend" my friend replyed "what you talking about, i was on a real bike, i was'nt on a harley" ... and the nurse got pissy. i don't think its realy a HD thing, but a crusier vs. sport bike thing. i only say that b/c you could have a roadliner and a HD rider would still wave. then again, if he knew you wer'nt on a harley, would he still waved back at you ? prolly not.  

This is interesting to hear, around here the Harley guys and gals (at least most of them) usually wave and are very friendly. The people who seem stuck up and act like you don't exist are the ones riding the Stars, Victorys, Shadows, etc. The non-Harley cruiser bikes. These guys are the biggest posers and usually are trying to act like hardasses riding around.    

This is funny,because i had the same question for a while,I dont think it's a sport bike vs. cruiser thing , more like a cruiser vs. everybody thing, for example ,I pulled up to dude on a shadow at a light on my dualsport waited for some kind of recognition and it never came, watched pull away and wave to some other "cruiser dude"going the other way, same when i'm on my R6.
I personally think that there are riders and there are motorcycle enthusiast's who really love riding and bikes and dont get caught up with the image.
just my opinion .  

I for one have never had this problem i ride a 86 fz600 and my buddy had a 76 HD shovel-head and we ride together all the time and we wave to EVERYBODY on 2 wheels
even a nod to the fools on scooters!
the whole sterotyping of cruisers vs sportbikes is rediculous.
Just enjoy the ride!!
by the way
first post!  

A real bike huh. I live a couple of hours from Laguna Seca and have attended many Moto GP and Super Bike races there. I have never seen a HD on the track. What i have seen is some of the best engineered bikes in the world being ridden by incredibly talented balls out dudes. Cruising is ALL about image and making it to the next bar. Most of my riding takes place in the Sierra Nevada mountains on some great twisty roads. I probably would not ride much if all I could do was cruise.  

I never let the lack of courtesy damping my spirit for ridding it is always a joy. You say you have a 86 fz600. Is the bike a Yamaha FZ6? I ride an 04 FZ6 with a modified exhaust system (British Scorpions)because I am too old to stay bent over very long. I tried the R6 for a while but could not last very long. 2004 was the first year the euro bike was introduced in the States so I was thrilled to get close to the R6 power on a bike I could comfortably ride.

Welcome to what is a great sport bike site.

Don Lovell - Central Valley of California  

Here is a photo of an FZ600. It's an entirely different motorcycle.
Sorry, off topic.  

my wife said it the best, 'WHO CARES AS LONG AS YOU ARE HAVING FUN"  

my dad is a member of star touring and riding (i think thats the name of it). when he rides in a group he told me "we wave to everyone, crotch rockets,harleys, ect.  but anyone caught waving at scooters......well, they'll catch alot of crap at the next meeting."  

yeah that picture of the fz600 is like mine but mine is primer gray
just put a pic up will post more as soon as i take em  

Hi all, first post.

I joined specifically to reply to this thread. I just got my first a bike. It's a SYM RV250 scooter. I have been having too much fun on it. I can not believe I did not get into bikes earlier in life. I am already choosing my next bike. If I am still as enthused next spring as I am now, I will be changing bikes.

In 300 km total riding experience, I have already noticed some attitude from the cruiser types. Then I find this thread with people noticing the same thing. Then I see there area few here who berate the non-waving cruiser types, and actually, in the same post say they do not wave to scooters. I know that some of that is tongue in cheek for some of you, but I have a feeling that just maybe some actually are that hypocritical. Please tell me I am wrong.

I have had a ton of laughs with buddies and family teasing me about my scooter, and I can take it fine, so don't get me wrong. The best one I have heard is, that while the cool wave for bikes is three finders out to the side, the appropriate scooter wave is an enthusiastic thumbs up and then a spin of the propeller on my helmet. Yes I know the step through is actually for crossing my legs, and no my scooter does not have a purse hook. The smaller less masculine 125cc I believe has that.

This post is not a troll, it's curiosity.

Dave  

I was raised riding HD, but branched out and bought a Kawi 636. I can tell you that as I grew up riding a HD wasn't a weekend recreation. The riders were die hard riders, you may have heard of the "Iron butt" rides. They were also die hard buy only American. Though, I think recently alot of HD riders have accepted that you do not need to ride a HD to be a biker. I agree with some of you as well, that it seems like the weekend riders are those with a stick stuck up their @$$. I have had more problems from the weekend riders than I ever had from other riders.

The only thing we can do is give them a wave and keep on riding.    

Interesting this thread popped up.  I'm on a Yamaha R6 and always wave to fellow riders on sport bikes and 99% of the time they wave back.  When I first started riding, I waved to the majority of other riders on the road, but those who ride cruisers, dual sports or scooters rarely return the wave.

At this point, I hardly ever wave to those folks anymore just from lack of awknowledgment.  

wolfmsu:
The only thing we can do is give them a wave and keep on riding.  

+1. Exactly.